Rotary foot pad



May 19, 1931. H. l. CLARK ROTARY FOOT PAD Filed Oct. 16, 1930 ATTORNEY,

Patented May 19, 1931 HOWARD I. CLARK, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA ROTARY FOOT .'LAD

Application filed October 16, 1930. Serial No. 489,129.'

; and avoid all frictional Contact of the footwear with the rubber-covered or natural surfaces of the running-boards. A further object is to provide a revoluble pad of this class having a. circular base that may be permanently and immovably secured to the running-board, and having a rotatable top prtion which constitutes the tread, large enough to accommodate the ball portion of one foot, that directly supports the weight of a person and enables him to swing or turn his body, afteremergi'ng from the car, in different directions, in order to conveniently and safely alight from the running-board, the said turning and twisting movements tending i3 to freely rotate the said tread portion of the pad while the base remains stationary. rlhe top face of the present pad may comprise rubber or other adhesive or tenacious material for preventing the engaged foot from slipping. The present pad may also be used by persons boarding an automobile, to enablel them to suitably maneuver their bodies, and is especially advantageous for heavy, stout and aged persons, who are ordinarily less agile than younger and lighter persons, And a further object is to provide a foot pad which is especially designed to protect the rubber or other covering -of running-boards from undue wear and distigurement, and which also tends to lessen the wear and tear of shoes and other foot gear.

I attain these objects by the means set forth inthe detailed description which follows, and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a top plan view of the complete pad. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the concave metallic rotatable member with the annular peripheral clamp removed.l Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the concave base, showing the balls which sustain and render the tread portion rotatable, the concave ofthe latter member nesting in the concave ofthe base andforming therewith a race for the balls. Fig. l is a central vertical cross-section, taken 55 on line 4-4 of Fig. l, showing the pad secured to a fragment of a running-board. And Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the pad detached from the running-board.

ln the drawings, 2 represents the circular' 60 base of the pad, which is formed with a relatively larO/'e concentric concave portion 2 having a plane bottom which affords a relatively broad support for the pad when the latter is applied to a running-board, as 3. rl'he concave 2 is preferably surrounoed by a' plane annular flange 2a, and is formed with a concentric perforation 2c, to' receive a bolt 4., by which the base may be rigidly secured to the running-board'. he bolt 4 is prefer- 70 ably formed with a relatively broad substantially flathead 8', which tends to prevent the tilting or other movement of the base when the pad is stepped upon.. The peripheral wall, as 2d, of the cavity 2 is preferably. dis- 75 posed at an angle and comprises part of a race for a series of balls, as 5, the latter preferably being equidistantly spaced around the periphery of the concave 2 by metal, ber or rubber segments, yasl 5', best shown inFig. 3. 80 6 represents a similar concave disc, which is disposed concentrically above and spaced from the disc 2, the concave, as 6', thereof being' shallower and of smaller diameter than the concave 2, and its peripheral wall, as 6a, 85 also being disposed at an angle correspond ing to that of the wall 2d, and being norn'ially spaced from the latter a distance'equal to the diameter of the balls 5. The angular wall 6a, together .with an annular plane 90 flange 6c cooperates with the portions 24x- 2d to complete the race for the balls 5 and the segments 5. The diameter of the balls 5 are such as to normally space the flanges 2er-66, as shown in Fig. 4, in order to enable the disc 6 to freely rotate withoutinterferenee from the base 2. The disc 6 is preferably overlaid with a circular sheet or body of rubber, as T, which comprises' the tread and possesses sufficient adhesiveness to prevent oners foot from slipping when boarding or aligliting from an automobile, or the like. The revoluble tread member comprising the discs 6 and 7 is preferably held in place, and an intimate relation of said discs is maintained, by an annular clamping member 8, which is formed with a plane flange 8 that overlies a similar flange, as 7 of the disc 7. The clamp 8 is thence bent downwardly at right angles to the flange 8 to form an enclosing wall 8a,

and its lower edge is finally spun or bent in-A wardly in the form of an annular flange Se that grips an annular preferably metallic ring 9, which is separatedfrom the ange 2a of the base 2 by an annular packing of felt,

yor the like, as l0, the felt preferably being saturated with oil, or 'coated with grease, which lubricates the adjacent parts and enables the disc 6 7 and the clamp 8 to freely rotate relatively to the base 2. ln practice, the space between the discs 6 and 2 is usually filled with grease which tends to perpetually lubricate the ball-bearings and the adjacent Having thus described my invention, what l. A rotatable foot pad for automobile running-boards including concentric concave discs disposed one above the other, the

. concave portion of the uppermost disc nesting in the concave of the lowermost disc and forming therewith a race for a plurality of balls that render the uppermost disc rotatable relatively to the lowermost disc, ad-

hesive means carried by the uppermost disc to prevent slipping of the foot when the user of the. automobile steps upon said disc,

and means to operatively clamp the peripheral margins of said discs vto prevent separation thereof. Y

2. A revoluble foot'pad including a base ning-boards, including upper and lower concave discs adapted to be loosely nested, the concave of the lowermost disc adapted to be rigidly mounted upon the running-board, the concave of the uppermost disc being of smaller diameter than the concave of the lowermostdisc, a plurality of balls to separate said concave portions and enable the uppermost disc to freely rotate relatively to the lowermost disc, and an annular retaining member having inturned annular flanges adapted to operatively embrace the peripheral margins of said discs and being rotatable with said upperinost disc.

4. A revoluble foot pad comprising a substantially circular base having .a concave portion adapted to be rigidly secured to the running-board of an automobile, and the like, said concave portion being surrounded by a plane iange, a similar circular member having a concave portion adapted Vto nest in the concave of the base and having a coinciding annular flange surrounding itsconcave, the concave of said member being shallower and smaller in diameter, adapted to form with the concave of the base a race for a plurality of balls that enable said member to rotate relatively to the base, said member being overlayed with adhesive material to be engaged by a persons foot upon entering or leaving the automobile, and ank annular clamping member to operatively iiiterlock said base and said circular member, and being Vrota-table with said member.

In testimony whereof I aiiiX my signature.

' HOWARD IQ, CLARK.

comprising a vconcave disc, said concave adapted to be rigidly mounted upon the running board of an automobile, a rsimilar concave disc disposed above said base, the concave of the latter disc loosely nesting in the concave of the base andbeing spaced therefrom by a series 'of balls that render the superposed disc rotatable, and an annular clampi ing member to operatively interlock the said discs, said, member being rotatable with the superposed disc, and means to prevent slipping of the users foot when the pad is stepped upon. y

3. A rotatable foot pad for automobile run- 

